Chapter 24 in the Book of Mishlei opens in direct continuation of the end of the previous chapter. There, King Solomon warned man against wine - "Do not look upon wine when it is red," "Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will speak perversities" - and even before that, he warned against the foreign woman, "For a harlot is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a narrow well," so that a person does not attach himself to things that distance him from the service of Hashem. Now, says Rabbeinu Yonah, Solomon comes to warn against envying wicked men. And why would a person envy them in the first place? Because he sees them prospering. The path of the wicked succeeds until the moment of his downfall, and this sight can lead a person to say: If so, I will also act like them.
אַל־תְּקַנֵּא בְּאַנְשֵׁי רָעָה וְאַל־תִּתְאָו לִהְיוֹת אִתָּם׃ (א) - Do not envy wicked men, and do not desire to be with them. (1)
The meaning of the words according to Rabbeinu Yonah: Do not seek their company, even if it seems profitable to you. "Do not desire to be with them" - do not think to fulfill your desire by being with them and profiting from them, because their company corrupts, as will be explained in the next verse.
The Malbim notes a precision in the two parts of the verse. "Do not envy wicked men" - do not envy their success to the point that you want to emulate their deeds. And against the claim, "After all, I will not do as they do; I will only be in friendly company with them, perhaps that is permitted?" - against this comes the second part: "and do not desire to be with them." Merely being in their presence already impairs, already corrupts, and already causes you to learn from their evil deeds.
This can also be understood by way of an allegorical insight. There is a common saying: "The neighbor's grass is greener." A person envies his neighbor's grass - especially when the neighbor does not keep Shemitah. But people say about this: You do not know why the grass there is green - it is because there is a lot of manure there. The lesson is simple: do not look only at the positive and the wonderful. That person also carries a whole "baggage" with him: he suffers from his child, suffers from his wife, has problems with his boss, has health issues. To look only at the good another person has and envy him is simply not right.
This is like someone who sees another person driving a brand-new SUV and envies him. He approaches from the front and sees a small handicap placard on the windshield - and immediately the envy vanishes. That is to say, when you see something good in someone else, do not think it comes on its own; it comes as a total package. This does not mean that things are inevitably bad for a person, but rather that there is no guarantee you would only get his good. And as has been said: if each of us were shown our own bundle and the bundles of others, everyone would end up choosing their own bundle once again. The other person's bundle is an all-inclusive package - not just the success you envy, but also other things you almost certainly would not want.
And as a poignant insight, the verse can be read this way: If you envy wicked men, you are essentially desiring "to be with them" - meaning, to take on their entire baggage. Are you truly prepared for that? Look, he is very wealthy, but do you know how much he suffers from his children? What anguish he endures because of them? Would you want that? Certainly not. A person prefers to have less money along with nachas from the children and peace in the home. Therefore: do not envy wicked men, for to envy them requires you "to be with them" - to take on everything they have. And you do not want all of it; so do not envy merely the good things they possess, either.
It has been told that the wife of the Chafetz Chaim - who, as is known, suffered from terrible poverty, especially in his early years - said to him: How is it that you are such a tzaddik, so God-fearing, such a servant of Hashem, yet you do not have bread to eat? While the neighbor, who does not compare to you in any way, a simple layman, look how much he has and he lacks nothing. Is the Holy One, Blessed is He, not able to provide you with livelihood and abundance as well? He said to her: I do not understand what you want. You have, by your own words, a righteous husband, you have righteous, God-fearing, well-raised children who serve Hashem, you have a home of Torah. The neighbor has none of that. What does he have? A livelihood. And do you want Hashem to give livelihood to you as well, and not to him? Do you want everything? To you, the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave this, and to him He gave something else. Do not think you can simply have what that person has - it is an all-inclusive deal. And that is "do not desire to be with them." It is better for a person to remain with his own lot and not desire what others have.
כִּי־שֹׁד יֶהְגֶּה לִבָּם וְעָמָל שִׂפְתֵיהֶם תְּדַבֵּרְנָה׃ (ב) - For their heart meditates destruction, and their lips speak mischief. (2)
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: at every single moment, their heart meditates ruin and plots evil - they are constantly scheming how to rob, how to plunder, how to harm others. And because of this, it is impossible for their lips not to speak mischief. "Mischief" (amal) refers to corrupt deeds, acts of theft, and falsehood. When such a person is constantly turning over in his head how to cause harm, he inevitably speaks that way as well, for the tongue is the pen of the heart - what is inscribed in the heart, the tongue expresses. He will talk about how to pull off a scheme against this person, how to cheat that one, how to ruin another. Through this, merely being around him exposes you to harmful, forbidden speech, even if you never adopt his actions.
This is a tangible reality. A person finds himself among people far from the mitzvos, and tells himself: "I am observant; I will not copy their actions." But observe what their conversation sounds like. One tells his friend: "I had this whole issue with the insurance company, so I pulled this trick, played the angles, and managed to squeeze a payout from them!" Everyone applauds him: "Bravo! You really know how to work the system; you're sharp!" Under normal circumstances, you would never dream of doing such a thing. But once you hear and witness this mindset repeatedly, it no longer feels foreign. It ceases to register as corrupt and reprehensible. Dishonesty is no longer treated with dread. Do you truly imagine this has no effect? It does. You absorb their spirit, you absorb their interests and priorities, and in the end, it will affect you as well.
The Vilna Gaon distinguishes between robbery (shod) and mischief (amal). "Robbery" is what a person takes by sheer force, seizing through power - and concerning this, it is said: "their heart meditates," meaning they constantly plot how to overpower and rob others. "Mischief" refers to what becomes discernible - what he thinks regarding his fellow that shows on his exterior. There are thoughts a person harbors about another that remain hidden, and there are thoughts where his intentions become evident - and these he also articulates aloud. Thus, we find here thought, speech, and action; in all three they stumble, and therefore, do not associate with them.
The Malbim also understands this verse as a continuation of the previous one: do not envy evil people, for their heart continually meditates destruction. Here, however, he offers a novel insight. Earlier, we explained that "their heart meditates destruction" means their schemes are aimed at harming and plundering others. The Malbim takes a different approach: you see the wicked person looking joyful, triumphant, and thriving, and you think, "This person has it good; this person is truly happy." Yet you do not perceive how intensely such people live in fear. A minor shift in the stock market, and millions are wiped out. A slight economic downturn, and he takes a heavy hit. A fluctuation in currency rates, and he suffers a loss. A competitor enters his niche, and his profits are slashed in half.
As noted previously, the calmest individuals are often those working on a fixed salary. While one may not earn a fortune, there is a steady income, and he sleeps soundly at night. The one who struggles to sleep is the self-employed person, and all the more so the large-scale entrepreneur - the more extensive the enterprise, the greater the anxieties and dread. Countless stories exist of fortunes reversing, leaving former millionaires in dire circumstances. Even when the wheel turns and they do not lack for bread - having safeguarded funds abroad in secure accounts - the persistent dread remains: what if this happens, and what will become of us when that occurs?
Regarding this, the verse declares: "For their heart meditates destruction." You envy him, but does he possess genuine serenity? Destruction constantly occupies his thoughts; he is perpetually anxious over ruin and collapse. His mind continually worries: "Here I might fall; there I might fail; from this direction I could be robbed." Meanwhile, you, who carry none of this burden, live with serenity and peace of mind. We have elaborated on this theme in Sefer Iyov, where the Malbim interprets several verses based on this principle, in the spirit of "that which I feared has come upon me." When a person lives in dread, those fears often materialize, and what he dreaded ultimately overtakes him. Their apparent success is therefore no true success, for they live in perpetual terror of ruin, collapse, and loss.
In contrast to the warning, "do not desire to be with them" - which the Malbim explained means that even merely associating with them is forbidden, even if one has no intention of adopting their deeds and merely seeks to benefit from the connection - the end of the verse declares: "and their lips speak mischief." What do you expect to gain - to absorb their banter, their slang, their tone, and the worldly affairs that obsess them? Inevitably, you will realize that keeping company with them, even without emulating their conduct, is deeply corrupting.
Thus, according to the Malbim, the clauses of the verses parallel each other. As we have noted several times, verses often structure into four matched parts: each verse splits in two, with the first half of the first verse corresponding to the first half of the second, and the second half corresponding to the second. "Do not be envious of evil men" matches "for their heart meditates destruction" - do not envy him, for deep inside he eats himself up and lives in dread. "Do not desire to be with them" matches "and their lips speak mischief" - for close association with them will expose you to their talk, and eventually lead you to follow their ways as well.
בְּחׇכְמָה יִבָּנֶה בָּיִת וּבִתְבוּנָה יִתְכּוֹנָן׃ (ג) - Through wisdom a house is built, and with understanding it is established. (3)
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: Having been warned not to envy the wealth of the wicked, nor their tranquility, and not to crave their company for financial gain, the verse now comes to teach the true path to attaining serenity and wealth: "Through wisdom a house is built." The soul, the inner home, is built through wisdom. When a person occupies himself with wisdom, with words of Torah, with understanding and knowledge, he will attain serenity and will also attain wealth, as it is said, "I have not seen a righteous person forsaken, nor his descendants begging for bread." This is in addition to having a future and a hope, as we will see below in verse 14: "If you find it, there is a future" - dividends await in the World to Come. Yet already here, in this world, "Through wisdom a house is built."
"And with understanding it is established" - that this house will endure, have longevity, and remain standing. This is like the verse, "You and your kingdom shall not be established," meaning that the monarchy would not endure for generations; and by contrast, "Truthful lips shall be established forever" - enduring for generations. We find, then, that Scripture attributes the initial construction to wisdom, but what keeps the house standing is understanding (tevunah): reflecting on each matter and discerning how the home can endure forever. And understanding is an even higher level than wisdom. In its plain sense, this refers to the spiritual home, and Scripture is essentially telling you that this is the main thing: do not envy someone who owns a villa; your spiritual villa is far greater.
Yet this can also be applied in the material sense, and it is a matter of Divine Providence that one can see with his own eyes in our generation. The reality is that people who engage in Torah, yeshivah students, establish a home much faster than those who do not - in two distinct senses. First, "house" in the sense of marriage: among those distant from mitzvot, you see many at age thirty, thirty-two, or thirty-four who are still searching; by contrast, among those in yeshivah, ninety-five percent are already married by age twenty-four, and some by twenty-two or even twenty. The building of the home begins early. Second, a physical house: look at the reality, where most avreichim and bnei Torah own a home. Granted, it is not a four-story villa, but they have a home - three rooms, two and a half rooms, but they have a home.
This observation was once noted, and someone later strongly affirmed it. Consider even families with several children, some of whom became bnei Torah and avreichim while others did not. You will see that those who became bnei Torah are settled: they have a home, an established place of study, or stable employment. Yet the one who was not a ben Torah and went out to work - one might have assumed he would be better off, yet one sees the exact opposite: financially, he often has not built a home, sometimes he has not married, and even if he married, you see him floundering for a long time trying to find an apartment, sometimes without even the money to start. When this point was once mentioned in a lecture, a man from Kiryat Herzog approached and said: "Three of the people around me, as well as my own children - it is exactly as was said." Anyone who checks will see this. There is a special Divine assistance granted to a person who accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah, for the yoke of worldly labor is removed from him. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will help you. This is "Through wisdom a house is built" - engage in wisdom and do not worry; the home will be built, and Hashem will ensure you lose nothing. "And with understanding it is established" - afterward, to maintain it, understanding is required, to see that the home does not fall apart and remains standing.
וּבְדַעַת חֲדָרִים יִמָּלְאוּ כׇּל־הוֹן יָקָר וְנָעִים׃ (ד) - And through knowledge rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant wealth. (4)
The Malbim explains that this verse is a continuation of the previous one. In the language of King Solomon, as explained countless times, "wisdom" (chochmah) refers to what we receive from the outside - from Moshe Rabbeinu, from the Prophets. Its content consists of ways of conduct, upright character traits, proper behavior, and walking in the path of Hashem. These matters must be accepted by tradition, for they cannot be derived by philosophical proof; anyone could come along and claim his path is the right one, so wisdom must be received from another who shows us the proper way. And to acquire wisdom, "he who gathers little by little shall increase" - it requires continuous study, layer upon layer. One does not master Shas in a single day, nor does one finish a tractate in a day; wisdom is always gathered from many cumulative studies.
A preacher was once asked: "How long did it take you to prepare this sermon?" He replied: "Half an hour - plus forty-eight years." They asked: "What does that mean?" He answered: "For this specific sermon I sat for half an hour. But bring a thousand people and have each sit for half an hour, and they will not achieve even ten percent of this. Why? Because for forty-eight years he has been studying, probing, and delivering sermons. So when he now sits down to craft a new sermon, it is drawn from forty-eight years of accumulated knowledge." Wisdom is something that steadily accumulates and gathers. A person does not become a department head overnight; there is vast experience behind him, and many patients passed away under his care and were sent to the World of Truth as part of his training. This is also why the healthcare system prefers that patients not travel abroad for treatments - our own doctors need to learn, and if not on your father, how will they learn? A person might ask: "What, is my father cannon fodder for the doctor to practice on?" Yet that is the reality - one learns from mistakes, and learning happens as one gathers little by little, layer upon layer, until one acquires wisdom.
The Malbim explains: Wisdom is analogous to a person gathering wood, stones, lime, iron, and cement - all the materials suitable for construction - and collecting them in the lot. "Understanding" (tevunah) is the level of deducing one thing from another; its role is to take all these materials and construct the house from them. Therefore, "Through wisdom a house is built" - wisdom is the gathering of materials, which is study, adding lesson upon lesson; and the actual construction of the house is within the realm of understanding: assembling the pieces, integrating everything, and reflecting upon them. Then there is a complete edifice, a cohesive line of thought, a unified idea, and proper conduct of the wise person stemming from all that he has learned. This does not happen in a single moment - these are things that are built over time.
Afterward, one reaches the level of Da'at. Chochmah is what we received from another - from Moshe Rabbeinu and from the prophets; Tevunah is our contemplation of matters and delving into them, until we reach complete identification with them, and by virtue of that contemplation, we arrive at the level of Da'at. Da'at is absolute knowledge. Da'at is mathematics: two plus two equals four - that is an axiom, something absolute, clear, and provable. Initially, I needed to receive the concept from someone else, but after I have delved into it so deeply that it settles in my heart, it becomes like mathematics to me - settled in the heart and part of who I am.
Accordingly, if Chochmah is the gathering of raw materials and Tevunah is the building, then Da'at is furnishing the house: sofas, washing machine, refrigerator, furniture, and everything inside. This is true settlement - I settle into the house, the concepts are settled in my heart, and I understand them and identify with them one hundred percent. This is what the verse means: "Through wisdom a house is built" - these are the basic materials, engaging in Torah study, receiving the teachings from the mouth of a sage or prophet; "and through understanding it is established" - through contemplating them, the house stands firm; "and by knowledge the rooms are filled" - when you reach the level of Da'at, the rooms are filled, and the house has not only an external structure, but it fills your inner being. And with what are they filled? "With all precious and pleasant riches" - once one is settled in Torah, his house is filled with precious and pleasant wealth: he already generates novel Torah insights on his own, he overflows spontaneously, because he built everything in the proper manner.
However, regarding one who does not build in the proper order, one finds many letters sent to the leading Torah sages: yeshivah students studying a sugya often feel discouraged because they want to generate novel insights (chiddushim). They see that one commentator innovated this, the Steipler wrote that, and the Ketzot HaChoshen innovated something else - "yet I learn and produce no novel insights at all!" But the recurring theme running through all the guides for yeshivah students is that one does not innovate by straining to invent something new; rather, from the sheer breadth of study, insights flow naturally. What this means is that once you have studied one topic here and another topic there, a contradiction suddenly arises between them - and you already have a kashya (difficulty). After the kashya, you try to think and say: there is room to distinguish between them in such and such a way - and now you also have a teirutz (resolution). But if you have learned only one thing, where would questions and answers come from? Your knowledge is limited. When a person learns extensively and broadens his Torah, the Torah expands within him, and he begins to perceive differences between one source and another: why does Scripture say it this way here, yet phrase it differently there? Then it occurs to him that a distinction must be drawn - and behold, you have innovated an insight. Novel insights come from becoming filled.
Yet there are those who want their rooms to be filled with all precious and pleasant wealth before there is even a house, before bringing the materials, and before building at all. Shlomo tells you: this is not the way. The way is, first of all, "Through wisdom a house is built" - bring the raw materials, immerse yourself in Torah study; afterward, "and through understanding it is established" - the concepts begin to settle within you, you contemplate them, and now a house exists; and then one can bring into it all precious and pleasant riches - you are now fruitful, there are novel Torah insights, and the concepts exist within you on the level of Da'at, with absolute, clear knowledge, from which one can truly innovate in Torah.
The Malbim adds that the creation of the world followed this exact same pattern - precisely the same relationship as the building of the house discussed here. As the verses state: "With wisdom He founded the earth" - the foundation of the earth, meaning the elemental materials, was through Chochmah; "He established the heavens with understanding" - providing the entire framework and structure, building the house itself; "and by His knowledge the depths were broken open" - this is the precious and pleasant wealth filling the house, for the depths were cleaved and there are seas, rivers, and all the contents of the world.
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: "Da'at encompasses all the ways of human thought, as I shall explain." In other words, Da'at according to Rabbeinu Yonah is the ability to consider all scenarios and possibilities. As is known, the more possibilities a person envisions, the deeper, wiser, and more discerning he is. If someone does a certain thing and people say to him: Wait, why did you do that? Didn't you consider that such-and-such might result from it? And he answers: I did not think about that - we regard him as lacking Da'at. After all, it is simple; you should have considered that it could fall, break, or cause damage. By contrast, the more a person says: I considered that it could turn out this way, and I thought about those directions, and such a scenario could arise, and I took that into account as well and therefore decided to act this way - the deeper and more thoughtful a person he is.
A superficial person, on the other hand, sees only one thing: what is right before his eyes, and nothing more. Da'at is the faculty through which a person anticipates and envisions more and more things that could happen and could emerge from the matter, examining it from additional angles. A superficial person sees one dimension; a deep person says: one can explain it this way, and one can also incorporate such an interpretation, or explain it in yet another manner - because he delves deeper and discerns multiple facets in a matter that, to the superficial eye, appears to have only one. These concepts will find even greater expression in the coming verses.
The opening of the chapter warns against envying wicked people and associating with them: "Do not envy wicked men, neither desire to be with them" - not only must you not emulate their deeds, but the mere association with them is corrupting. The reason follows in the next verse: "For their heart plots ruin" - according to the plain meaning, their schemes always involve robbery and harm, and according to the Malbim, even their success brings no tranquility, for their heart constantly broods over fear of ruin and devastation; "and their lips speak of mischief" - and whoever associates with them absorbs their speech and their spirit, and will ultimately act as they do. In contrast to envying those who achieve worldly success, Scripture teaches the true path to building and tranquility: "Through wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches" - Chochmah is gathering the building materials through extensive study, Tevunah is joining them into an enduring, complete structure, and Da'at is the absolute knowledge that fills the house with precious and pleasant wealth, until one overflows and innovates on his own. Whoever chooses this path is assured divine assistance: whoever takes upon himself the yoke of Torah, the yoke of worldly affairs is removed from him.